by Clay Moore
They took the narrow West hallway to the large area that they established as the station's garage. Here they had space for nearly 7 vehicles. There were two of the luxury grav-car's already assembled from their compressed state. The other three cars were stacked into one garage slot. The garage had the strong smell of lubricant, hot electronics, and Radamite.
The red luxury grav-car stood on instructs in front of the door leading out. This grav-car was very much like the car that he owned in Eridani. Eridani was known for its grav-car manufacturing. He rubbed his left hand against the bodywork as he walked around the vehicle. When he came back to the point that he started, Oliver was standing there with the key fob that controlled the car. Oliver dropped the grav-car key fob into John's extended hand.
“I'm told by A that he wants you to contact him by audio Hypercom. I think he wants an explanation as to what were you thinking. When you took over the Dragon."
“I expected that some after your report reached his desk. I see that good news quickly."
Oliver chuckled. "I think A has an inkling as to your plan. He then said that you were planning to trap Anton Hecton. He wanted to trap him in his own casino."
“That's exactly it. This capture of the casino is one way to augment the income of the Secret Service. It also acts as a warning bell to Anton. The next thing that I'm going to do will reinforce that warning. That means I need somebody to get over to the Snake and find his bolthole starship. It should be within walking distance of the Snake. When they find it I want them to plant surveillance devices so that we can keep track of the comings and goings of people into that starship.”
"It's not going to be in a Starport?”
"Is there any requirement to establish a Starport Snake Eyes?"
"Hunh? There is no central authority for saying what can go where.”
"This Starport will be looking like anything other than a Starport. I wouldn't put it past him to have a landing grid and then plant a park around it."
"I thought that Reginald was particularly stupid when he said he found an anomaly near the Snake. I'll send my two best men to verify and plant surveillance devices."
"I think Anton will stay put. He is one of those people who believes that you don't react until you have no other choice. He's not a flighty bird that starts at the merest sound."
"Sounds like you have a little admiration for him.”
"Yes, the merest bit of admiration. This is an uneducated man who has managed to survive for 33 years as groundlings on Alphacent, a member of the Theodosia clan, and earned a high position in the Planetary Interests Corporation."
"I understand. Let us stand aside while you get that thing going."
John nodded. He touched the pilot's door. It swung up gull-wing style. John stepped into the grav-car. As soon as he sat down, the gull-wing door swung down and then pushed inward to seal the car. John could feel the change in pressure in his ears. He nodded to Oliver who opened the garage door. John turned on the Radamite engines. Then he turned on the null grav. John felt the car coming off the struts slightly, so John retracted the struts into the car's body. He advanced the throttle bar modestly. The car started moving.
John smiled. Here was a grav-car built to fly. He had barely bumped the throttle bar, and the car moved out walking speed out of the garage. Once out of the garage he wasted no time setting up where he wanted to end up. The navigation system inside the grav-car now gave him telltales indicating how to get to the Butterfly mega-casino.
John pulled up on the collective lever on his left side. That lifted his car to over 100 feet off the ground. He then advanced the throttle bar until he was at cruising speed. It turned off the grav-car's null-grav. The aerodynamic design of the grav-car now put him into actual flight. Now control the car entirely from his yoke and the rudder pedals on the floor.
Next, John activated the navigation system. True to Oliver's word the navigation system was prepared with directions to the Butterfly mega-casino. He engaged the autopilot and slid back his seat. He activated the holocom. It didn't take very long to navigate the communication system's menu system. He soon heard the sound of A's voice.
“What is this I hear that you have taken over one of the mega casinos on Snake Eyes?”
"It's good to hear from you too, sir."
"Just answer the damn question, please."
"That's the way business transfers occur down here for gang members. These are the guys that beat me up. They had to be dealt with In such a way that the entire world would see it, especially Anton Hecton."
"So, you're giving him a warning. What if the takes it in his mind to vacate."
“I don't think so. Bullon invested a lot of money into his mega-casino. You don't walk away from that kind of money. For some reason he is really looking to make a lot of money.”
“Do you think is trying to retire?”
"No, most of his self-worth is wrapped up in working and making money. This has the frantic hallmark of trying to get as much cash as possible together to do something.”
"Do you have any idea what that something might be?"
"All I have a speculation right now. I speculate that John is preparing something. Knowing what I know of him, I suspect that this might be revenge."
“Against you?"
"No. I'm too small a target to make a galactic statement. The Eridani High Guard is no more. That just leaves Eridani as a target.”
“Well, Alphacent did just as much against him?"
“You have a point. I could sit here and speculate for six hours, and we might add 10 more planets to that list. Let's just send an alert to all of the stations and any other organization that we might have on other worlds to be on the lookout for unusual activity."
"Okay, for now, you keep on the job at Snake Eyes. I would feel better if Anton no longer breathes."
“Will do, sir."
"What's your next move?"
“I'm now going to a mega-casino that is unusually run by a corporation. I suspect that Bullon has some ties with the other owners of mega-casinos. I want him to stop supporting those other casinos. I want him to announce that he is doing this. That should rattle Anton Hecton a little."
“It would rattle me."
“I have one more thing I like to speak to you about. I know you have this idea of having us all look like gentlemen. The fact that we are limited to black or gray suits is a problem. I know that when I am allowed to go undercover, I can wear anything I want. I'd like to be able to wear anything. You know, like my golf clothes and such."
"I'll have to think about that. If I permit that, then you will not be able to come into headquarters without wearing a proper suit."
"Heaven forfend, that I should do something like not wearing the appropriate clothing."
"Some of the other Z-level agents have indicated that there has been some blowback from wearing the gray suits. Apparently, it's not the fashion on most of the world. Most of the other worlds want to wear colorful suits. Your suggestion and request are noted. We should have a ruling on that by the time you return. A out."
The sound of hyperspace growled out of the Hypercom. John turned it off. There was some anger on the part of A. It was quickly snuffed. Then A seem to listen to his idea about the clothing. John decided to put it out of his mind for now. He settled down for a six-hour flight.
Sitting for six hours does make one's really tired. The navigational system warned John with a beeping tone. Out his front windshield, he could see the magnificent building that was the Butterfly mega-casino. He saw a parking structure connected to the make a casino. It's top floor consisted of landing rectangles for flying vehicles. John found one that was to his liking. He could either drive out of the parking structure or fly off. John engaged the null-grav. He pulled back on the throttle bar to reduce speed. After about a minute of lowering rate, John could feel the null-grav taking effect. He switched the avionics to drive mode. This made the other two petals on the floor operate as an acceler
ator and a break.
John hovered over the rectangular spot that he had chosen. Slowly he reduced the null-grav lowering himself down to the top floor of the parking structure. At 10 feet John lowered his struts. When he got the contact light from the struts, he zeroed his Radamite jets. He performed the standard shutdown procedure for all flight-capable grav-cars. The gull-wing doors opened and would John stepped out of the car.
"Hey, you!"
John turned toward the voice and saw a man in a black suit and sunglasses. To John, this spelled security in huge letters. John started walking towards the security man.
“Do you have a permit to land there?"
"I don't see any marks on the spot saying that it is for so-and-so."
"It doesn't have to have a sign because this entire floor of the roof is off limits to anyone who does not have a permit."
“Well, I have business with your CEO. I came from Dragon sector to negotiate with your boss."
“You're that man with a gray suit. The one that took over the Dragon mega-casino."
“Yes."
“I'm sorry sir. This floor of the roof is indeed restricted to permit holders only."
"Then do what you must do."
The security man started walking towards John. He did not look like he really liked what he had to do. By the time the story of his capture of the Dragon had reached here, it must've been embellished 50% bigger than it really was. That would be one of the reasons this security man did not really want to do his job. His life was about to get terribly complicated.
He did not get into a run. He was still trying to get John off the roof. The first thing you have to do is make sure that John's not armed. If he knew what was being said about John, then he knew that John was armed. Yet, John had not reached for his weapon. This seemed to confuse the security man. He was expecting to die. Just before he got to John, the security man put his hands out wide to indicate that he had to frisk John.
John shook his head. He relaxed his arms and put them at his sides. The security man tried to put his hands on John's shoulders to begin the frisk. John refused that by blocking the security man's arms. The security men took two steps backward. When he had seen that he had made those two steps and John was still with him, he wondered what kind of martial art that John was using. The security man tried using some rapid punches, but John merely parried each arm. The security man did something foolish. He paused to determine what he had to do. That pause allowed John to extend his right wing and strike the security man's chest with his own palm.
This was a strike that the security man was never trained to resist. He ended up on his buttocks looking up at John. John reached into the left inner breast pocket and pulled out his telescoping baton. With a flick of John's wrist, the rod reached its size. John touched the man's chest with the tip of his stick.
“I do not need to kill you to make my point. If you force me to it, I will kill you. If you relent and go home, you will not be sanctioned by your job. I will see to that. Do you believe that I would do that?"
“Why would you do that for me?"
"I am not bloodthirsty. I do not revel in killing people. I kill only when it helps me complete my mission. Right now all you have to do is consider this a half-day."
"All I have to do is go home?”
“Yes, but if I see you anywhere in this building for the rest of the day, I will kill you on the spot. Do you believe I would do that?"
The security man looked into John's eyes. He nearly fell into the pools of black. He knew a cold space killer. "I believe you."
"Go straight home. I see that your security badge is 152. Is that the number that I have to give to your CEO to give you credit for the rest the day?”
The security man merely nodded. He had no more words.
“Your style is familiar to me. Were you using Fuji Kohn?"
“How did you spot that so fast?"
“Fuji Kohn is designed for martial arts beginners. It's easy to understand, and it is all kata based. Fuji Kohn is like a language phrasebook. If you wanted to say where is the bathroom, then the phrasebook would be useful. But what if you wanted to say something specific about a woman's appearance? The phrasebook will help you there. Since so many of the planets security forces are trained in Fuji Kohn, a great deal of my training went to understanding the various katas."
“I did so well in some of the riots.”
“A trained person will always beat an untrained person."
“How are you trained?"
“It's an old earth martial art called Krav Maga. There are not many masters who would be willing to train anyone else. They are of your opinion. They would rather train the untrained to even the playing field."
"How did you get to be trained?”
"My dad was a son of a bitch. The one thing he could not say no to was my request to be trained in Krav Maga. He paid an exorbitant fee to a master, who was looking to retire. For almost 5 years of my young teen life, he molded my thought processes and my physical strength. I was almost as fast as he was, but I had the physical strength to him. At the end of the five years, I defeated him in a match. That was when he presented me with a right belt. Up until that time, he did not tell me where I was in training. Now I found out that I was the fifth level black belt.”
"Maybe I should seek out a Krav Maga master. Would you be one?"
“I would not train you. You have other things in your mind besides the training. You are married, and you cannot devote 100% of your time to the training. I will not train you. I would just get you dead. Keep on with Fuji Kohn. Find an upper-level master. That one might be able to get you over the hump into the more esoteric Fuji Kohn katas and techniques.”
The security men nodded. "May I get up now?"
"After you very carefully reach into your jacket and remove the blaster pistol you have there."
“We are not allowed a blaster pistol on the property."
John swiped at his knee with the baton. Luckily for the security man, it was just a tap. It hurt, but it did not break bones. "Do as I say. The next time I strike you-you will die."
Such was the truth on John's face that the security man blanched. He blinked, and he stuttered. "I-I-I have a blaster. It's inside my coat in a shoulder holster."
"Slowly reach your hand inside your jacket. Grab your blaster with your forefinger and thumb and nothing else. If you come out with that jacket gripping the blaster, I guarantee you will see the business end of this." John reached into his jacket and pulled out the heavy blaster pistol. The baton now in his left hand was incidental, so he collapsed the rod and put it in his left suit coat pocket.
The security man still reclining on his butt did as he was told. The gun when it came out was something of an anti-climax. It was a 5 mm subcompact blaster pistol. It was something that a lady would carry in her handbag, or a pimp would bring it around to bully his ladies. John chuckled at the sight of this blaster.
John deliberately pointed the end of his barrel at the security man. The security man squinted as he expected the weapon to erupt at any moment. Instead, John grabbed the security man's blaster out of his hand. He also put that in his left outer coat pocket.
John ordered the security man to roll over on his stomach. John put the right foot of the security man over the other. Then he cuffed the security man with his only set of handcuffs that he was carrying. He honestly hopes that he didn't have to need a handcuff any further.
